1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle operation method presentation device and a vehicle control device. In particular, the invention relates to vehicle operation method presentation device and method that present to a driver of a vehicle an operation method for control switches provided for switching the control state of the vehicle, and to a vehicle control device that switches the control state of the vehicle upon operation of the control switches.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-344109 (JP-A-11-344109) discloses a device that selects a mode of travel at the time of travel of the vehicle, and restricts the operation of a predetermined control switch according to the selected mode of travel. In this device, for example, when a SNOW mode is selected as the mode of travel by operating a switch, the speed steps of the transmission that are selectable by using the shift lever are restricted to the steps other than “the first speed”. In this case, the drive force that acts on the wheels on a snow road is restricted, so that it becomes possible to prevent the occurrence of a tire slip and secure appropriate travel of the vehicle.
The construction that allows the control state of the vehicle to be immediately switched to a desired state simply by operating a mode switch makes it unnecessary for a driver of the vehicle to perform a control-switching operation, and is therefore desirable in terms of the simple and easy switching of the control state of the vehicle. However, there are cases where the control state of the vehicle does not switch merely by operating the mode switch but it is necessary for the driver of the vehicle to further perform a control-switching operation after operating the mode switch in order to switch the vehicle to a desired control state. Such cases requires, for example, the operation of a transfer lever, a center differential lock switch, etc. That is, in such a system, it sometimes happens that unless the control-switching operation is performed by the driver of the vehicle in addition to the depression of the mode switch, the vehicle cannot be switched to a desired control state, and it becomes difficult to secure appropriate travel of the vehicle.
Besides, in some cases, a vehicle is equipped with, in addition to the mode switch for switching the mode of travel, individual function switches which are each provided, separately from the mode switch, for turning on and off a function that is included in a mode of travel. An example of the individual function switches is a 2nd-speed start switch for causing the available speed step range of the transmission of the vehicle to begin with “the 2nd speed” instead of “the 1st speed”. In the case where the SNOW mode is selected as the mode of travel by the mode switch, the control state of the vehicle is switched so as to restrict the number of usable speed steps of the transmission of the vehicle. However, if the system is constructed so that after this switching is performed, the restriction of the number of speed steps of the transmission can be released by depressing the 2nd-speed start switch, it sometimes happens that the control state that matches a selected mode of travel cannot be realized.